New Friend
by malic124
Summary: Charlie meets a boy, Billy Martin, in the hospital where he was recovering. Billy was attacked similarly to Charlie, and they quickly become good friends, discovering they have a lot in common. Charlie decides to introduce Billy to Patrick and Sam to help Billy heal, and get some new friends.
1. Chapter 1

Charlie walked over to the boy who was seated by himself. Charlie carried his lunch tray as he walked. The boy reminded Charlie of who he used to be before he met Sam, Patrick and everyone else. Considering that the boy was in the same place he was, the hospital where Charlie was recovering from the trauma of what his Aunt Helen did to him, he figured all the boy needed was a friend.

When Charlie reached his table, the boy looked up at him.

"Do you mind if I sit here?" asked Charlie.

"No, not at all," the boy replied.

Charlie smiled and sat down next to the boy.

"I'm Charlie Kelmeckis."

"Billy Martin," said the boy, shaking Charlie's hand. "I think I've seen you at school before."

"Oh, are you a freshman?" Charlie asked.

"Yes. I don't have very many friends, but I'm involved in the creative writing club."

"Cool! I'm a writer myself. My best friend, Sam, gave me a vintage typewriter for Christmas last year, and I just love using it."

"You'll have to let me try it someday! I'd love to use it to write a newspaper story, assuming I get out of here in time for next school year."

"Would you mind if I asked why you're in here?" asked Charlie.

Billy hesitated before he sighed. "I was sexually assaulted six months ago. I was asleep at a party when someone came up to me and tried to force himself on me. I woke up right before he did it and started freaking out. The guy kept trying to force me, but I managed to get away. He tried going after me and nearly killed me, before I managed to stop him. He's on trial right now to be put in jail for what he did to me. I'm a little worried though, because he wasn't thinking clearly when he attacked me since he was drunk. I was doing okay for the first few months. But when the trial started, I got pretty bad for a little bit. So I was sent here to try and recover."

Charlie was taken aback by what Billy had told him.

"I'm so sorry," he said. "I'm not sure what to say."

"You don't have to say anything, Charlie," Billy replied. "I'm doing better now that I'm in here. I'm not sure how I'm gonna be when I get outta here since I don't have very many friends, like I said."

"Well if you ever need a friend," Charlie said as he put a hand on Billy's arm. "You can always come to me."

"Thanks, Charlie," replied Billy, patting Charlie's hand that was on his arm. "That's just what I need to help me heal."

"Of course. You can also talk to my friends Sam and Patrick. They just graduated, but they'll both be here this summer. They're great. Both of them have been a great support system for me. Maybe we can all be for you."

Billy smiled, and seemed like he was gonna cry. "Thank you so much, Charlie. You seem like a good friend." He wiped a pair of tears of his cheek. "What about you, though? Do you mind telling me why you're in here?"

"Since you were open with me, I'll return the favor. When I was little, my Aunt Helen molested me. She died on my birthday when I was seven, and after that, I just sorta blocked it out because I loved her so much. Until recently, I was mostly okay. I had some moments when I was bad, but for the most part, I was fine. I'm doing a lot better now that the story has been told, and I've been healing while in here."

Billy nodded in understanding.

"This is a great place for that. I hope it all goes well for you. So, are we friends?"

Charlie laughed. "Of course we are! I'll introduce you to Sam and Patrick tomorrow. They're coming here to visit me since I haven't seen them since Sam left for college orientation."

"I look forward to meeting them," Billy said. "They sound great!"

"You'll like them. They are awesome."

With that, Billy and Charlie started eating lunch together. As they ate and chatted, they discovered that had a lot in common: they were both writers, outsiders, quiet, the kind of person without a lot of friends. Soon after, though, Billy had to leave to meet with his doctor so he shook Charlie's hand again, and they agreed to meet later during dinner to talk some more. When Billy left, Charlie thought about his new friend, and how Patrick and Sam would be able to help Billy the way they had helped him.


	2. Chapter 2

Charlie looked up from his typewriter when he heard knocking at his door. Knowing it could only be the two people he cared about most in the world, he barreled to the door and opened it.

"Charlie!" screamed Patrick, leaping forward and wrapping his arms around Charlie in a rib-cracking hug.

"Hi Patrick!" Charlie laughed.

"Okay, okay, save some for me, big brother," came Sam's voice from behind them. She and Charlie locked eyes for the first time since they said goodbye and Sam left for orientation. Charlie and Patrick broke apart and Charlie hugged Sam. When they stopped, they kissed each other.

"Oh, get a room, will you?" said Patrick, making gagging noises.

"Shut up!" Sam replied, laughing again. Charlie closed the door behind her and led them into his room, where they all sat down on his bed.

"So where's this friend you told us about?" Sam asked.

"He's in a meeting with our doctor. He promised he'd been in as soon as his appointment's over."

"How are you doing, Charlie? In here?"

"Come on, Sam, clearly he's had several more breakdowns!" Patrick answered, grinning at Charlie, who laughed. Sam frowned at them.

"I'm fine, Sam, really. My doctor has been incredible. She's helping me heal from what happened. I feel much better thanks to her. And now that you're here, I'm even better."

"Are you sure?" Sam asked, still frowning.

"Yes, will you relax? I'm totally okay."

"But-"

"Oh, Sam, he's fine. You gotta remember, this is the same guy who took on three jocks by himself when they were beating on me," said Patrick.

Sam smiled. "Alright, then. Well, tell us about your new friend."

"His name is Billy," Charlie said. "He goes to school with me, but I've never seen him there. He's about to be a sophomore this year, so we'll probably have a class or two together. He's a writer like me, and he wants to work on the newspaper staff in the fall."

"He sounds great!" said Sam. "When will he get here?"

At that, another knock came from the door.

"That'll be him," Charlie said, standing up and walking to the door again. "Listen guys, can you go easy on him? He's been through a lot recently; his attack happened only six months ago."

"Of course," Sam replied, nodding in understanding.

Charlie opened the door and there stood Billy, smiling.

"Hey Charlie," he said, giving Charlie a one-armed hug. "Are your friends here?"

"Yeah we are!" exclaimed Patrick, jumping off the bed and running to the door. He shook Billy's hand aggressively as he introduced himself.

"I'm Patrick, and that's Sam over there," he said, pointing over to the bed. Sam waved at Billy and said hi. "She and Charlie are really close, if you know what I mean," Patrick added with a grin.

"Patrick..." said Sam in a warning voice.

"Yes, dear sister?" Patrick responded in an innocent tone that fooled none of them.

"Don't make me come over there and slap you!"

"You would never!" Patrick replied as he led Billy to Charlie's bed.

"You know I totally would!" Sam said, laughing. "Hi Billy. It's nice to meet you."

"Likewise," Billy said, shaking Sam's hand. "Charlie told me quite a bit about the two of you. I think we'll get along just fine."

"How was your meeting, Billy?" asked Charlie.

"Well, I'm due to get out of here tomorrow, actually. And apparently so are you, Charlie," said Billy.

"I am? I didn't see that coming!"

"Yeah, well I think part of it has to do with the reason I'm having to leave. The man who attacked me six months ago is being arraigned in front of the judge tomorrow. The trial could start any day after that so I'll be needed to testify. I think Dr. Burton wants you to not have to be here all the time so you can help support me during the trial since I told her about meeting you yesterday."

"Of course," Charlie said. "I'll be with you the whole time!"

"Thank you, Charlie. You have no idea what that means to me."

"You don't have to thank me. Just keep being my friend and we'll call it even."

They all laughed. When they quieted down, Sam spoke.

"Patrick and I can be there with you too, Billy. Any friend of Charlie's is a friend of ours."

"Thank you, Sam. I'm gonna need all the help I can get. I'm a little nervous that this trial could be a trainwreck."

"If you don't mind my asking, what happened?" said Sam.

Charlie sighed before he told them what happened. When he was done, Patrick put a hand on Billy's shoulder.

"I'm so sorry for what happened to you," he said in a quiet voice that sounded much different from the one he usually spoke with.

"So am I," Billy replied, nodding. "I was doing okay for about a month after it happened and he was arrested. But then, I started having flashbacks. I was suffering from PTSD. When I got here, I didn't feel like I deserved to be here. I felt like he stole something from me. And I needed help dealing with it. I couldn't do it on my own."

At that, Billy started crying. He wiped the tears from his cheeks, but continued to cry. Charlie crawled over and put his arms around Billy.

"It's okay, Billy," he whispered. "It's okay."

Billy nodded before wiping his face again. Charlie let him go and sat by Sam again.

"I'm just so relieved that he was caught when it happened. He almost killed me when I tried to stop him, but I managed to overpower him and get away. My brother called the cops and they arrested him. But I'm just so worried that this trial is going to put me through hell again since he was drunk when he attacked me."

"That doesn't matter," Sam interjected. "Nobody deserves to have that happen to them, regardless of the attacker being drunk or not. You are a survivor, Billy, and there's nothing higher than that. You survived what he did to you, and you'll survive the trial, no matter what. I know that Charlie will be with you every step of the way, and Patrick and I will be there as much as we can."

"Thank you so much," Billy said, close to tears again. "You have no idea how much I need support from people other than my brother. If my parents were alive, I probably would've been okay, but they are long gone. My brother has been doing all he can, but he's really all that I've got."

"We'll be there for you," Patrick said as he patted Billy's back. "Starting tomorrow, the three of us are with you all the way."

* * *

The next day, the four of them arrived at the courthouse together. Billy's brother wasn't able to get time off from work since his boss had called in sick. They were pointed to a hallway where a bunch of lawyers and police officers were waiting to be let into the courtroom for the afternoon session of court to begin. As they waited, they were approached by two women.

"Billy, I'm glad to see that you're here," said one.

"Thanks, Callie," Billy replied. "These are some new friends of mine I met while I was recovering. Charlie, Sam and Patrick," he added, pointing to each of them. "Guys, this is Captain Callie Johnson. She's the lead on my case. And this is ADA Cindy Michaels, the prosecutor," he added, pointing to the older woman.

"District Attorney, now, Billy," Cindy said, grinning. "My predecessor stepped down last week, and I was asked to replace him. Since I still have several active cases occurring, those are my priority right now until I officially start duty. Good to meet you all. If you'll excuse me, I have to get inside the courtroom quickly since another case of mine is going in first."

Cindy left them with Callie.

"So where's Dale?" asked Billy.

"He's at home, for once, taking care of his kids, replied Callie, smiling.

"Shouldn't you be at home then, too?" Sam asked.

"What do you mean?"

"She means that your man is home doing your job!" Patrick shouted.

"Patrick!" shrieked Sam, as Patrick laughed.

Callie laughed, too. "I guess Billy and I didn't specify who Dale is," she said. "Dale is my former partner in our unit. Since I was made the Captain, he's been my right-hand man as the Sergeant, so we continue to work closely together. We were partners for 12 years before our former Captain stepped down and became a detective again. Then about a year ago, my squad merged with another one and we became responsible for sex crimes as well as homicide. I head one of the largest police precincts in the country," Callie added as an afterthought.

At that, they were ushered into the courtroom, where they sat down together. When they were seated, Callie turned to Billy.

"I'll be introducing you to our squad's resident crisis counselor later on during the case, Billy," she said. "When he was a private practicing counselor, he specialized in teenagers. I think he'll really be able to help you, along with your friends."

"Thanks Callie," Billy said.

They watched as the first case of the afternoon took place. Cindy wiped the floor with the defense, and managed to secure a $500,000 bond, despite the defense's claim that $50,000 would be sufficient. When the parties of that case cleared the table, Cindy remained standing. She turned and nodded at Callie and Billy.

Billy turned away as he heard a door open at the other side of the room. He knew that the man who had hurt him, Jack Calvert, was walking in.

"Is that him?" whispered Charlie.

"Yes," replied Billy.

"Are you okay?" asked Callie.

Billy nodded before returning his attention to the front of the room.

"Docket ending number 40501," read a court officer from a clipboard. "The People Versus Jack Michael Calvert. One count attempted rape in the first degree degree, one count attempted murder in the first degree."

The judge took the clipboard and examined it before he spoke.

"How does The Defendant plead?" he asked.

"Not Guilty," replied Calvert's lawyer.

"Bail, Miss Michaels?"

"Remand. Not only did The Defendant attempt to force himself on a sleeping teenager, but he also attempted to kill the victim when the victim tried to stop him."

"And I hardly think that requires remand, Your Honor," said the Defense Attorney. "My client is not a flight risk, and is willing to stay home with an ankle monitor."

"Be that as it may, Mr. Powers, I think all of us will sleep a little better if your client is more closely monitored. The Defendant is hereby remanded to jail pending his trial." The Judge banged his gavel. "Ten minute recess," he added.

With that, the court started to clear again. Cindy left the Prosecutor's Table and approached Billy and the others.

"What happens now?" Billy asked.

"The Defense will build their case, and I'll keep building mine. We will go to trial in about a month, and then it will be all over, at least in the legal sense. You hanging in there?"

"I'm trying," Billy replied.

Cindy nodded. "You three keep taking care of him for me," she said to Charlie, Sam and Patrick. "I'll see you later, Callie." She turned and walked back to her table to prepare for her next case.

"You okay getting home?" Callie asked.

"Yeah, we'll take good care of him," Charlie said, before Billy could respond. "We're gonna take him out for a drink at our favorite restaurant and then take him home so he can tell his brother what happened."

Callie nodded. "You call me if you need anything, Billy. You guys listen to Cindy, and take care of him for us."

"He's in good hands," replied Charlie.

Callie nodded again and walked away.

"So where are we going?" asked Billy.

"Kings," said Patrick. "You're gonna love it! We're totally gonna get wasted!"

"Patrick..." said Sam, grinning. "No, we're not gonna get drunk. We'll just get some coffee."

"Sounds good to me!" replied Billy.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: All of the characters (except Billy and Charlie) who appear in this chapter are all main characters who appear in my second book, _Above Acceptance. _Darren Thomas was also a main character in my first book _Rise to the Top_. For more information about those books, feel free to contact me! I realize that some of Darren's backstory is confusing if you haven't read those books, so feel free to ask me any questions you have! Thanks and enjoy!

Billy and Charlie entered the squadroom, escorted by a uniformed police officer.

"Wait here a moment," he said.

The two nodded at him before he left. They looked around the squadroom, trying to take in their surroundings.

"Is it always this jumpy?" Charlie asked, seeing the large amount of people in room.

"Depends on the time of day," Billy replied. "I've seen this place more jammed than it is now, and I've seen in virtually empty. I prefer to be somewhere in the middle, though."

Charlie nodded as Callie and two men walked up to them. One was wearing glasses, and had dirty blonde hair.

"Billy, this is Darren Thomas, he's our resident crisis counselor," said Callie.

"Hi, Billy, it's good to finally meet you in person," Darren said, shaking Billy's hand.

"Likewise," replied Billy smiling. "This is my new friend, Charlie Kelmeckis," he added as Charlie shook hands with Darren. "And Charlie, this is Sergeant Dale Blake," said Billy, motioning to the other man who had approached them.

"Nice to meet you, Charlie," Dale said, smiling. "Well, are we ready to get started then."

"Yeah, whenever you are," Billy replied.

"Sure thing, Billy, I'll leave you and Darren in a room so you can talk," said Callie. "We're just waiting for our new ADA to arrive. They are going to be helping Cindy with your case, and we haven't met them yet."

"Looks like you won't have to wait much longer," interjected Charlie, nodding behind the rest of them.

Dale, Callie and Darren turned around. Callie let out a small gasp as she saw a man with dark hair and glasses, dressed in a blue dress shirt, approach them with Cindy leading him toward them.

"Alex!" exclaimed Callie. Evidently, she knew the man who was approaching them.

"What have we got?" Alex responded. Callie, Dale and Darren looked at Alex with looks of shock etched onto their faces. Alex grinned at them.

"Yes, it's me," he said. "I'm back."

"He is the new ADA," added Cindy. "Alex will be helping me with my caseload until I can take over fully as the DA. I'll leave you with him, guys. I gotta go prep for some more court appearances." She turned and exited the squadroom.

"What happened to Joseph?" asked Dale.

"When Cindy became the DA, Lauren moved up to being Executive Assistant. Joseph became the Bureau Chief, so his position opened," explained Alex.

"And Michaels drafted you?" suggested Callie.

"I wasn't drafted, Cindy asked me."

"No one told us about it."

"I only accepted an hour ago."

"We never thought we'd see you again," said Dale.

"I got your messages," Alex said. "And I pick up the phone to call you and remember -"

"That we were there when you were shot?" asked Darren.

"We heard your father died in prison," explained Callie. "And Andy was put into solitary confinement, permanently. You've been out of witness protection for nine years. You were with White Collar Crimes, and had a pretty high conviction rate."

"93 percent," said Alex. "But let's not worry about that until I start prosecuting with you regularly. Care to introduce me to your friends?"

"Oh yes," Callie said, having forgotten that Billy and Charlie were with them. "Billy, this is our new ADA, Alex Kelbert. Alex, this is Billy Martin. He's our star witness against Jack Calvert."

"Nice to meet you, Billy," Alex said, shaking Billy's hand. "And who is this young gentleman?"

"My good friend, Charlie Kelmeckis," answered Billy.

"I'm glad you have at least one friend to support you through this," said Alex, after shaking Charlie's hand. "Back when I was the subject of a case with this squad, I only had these crazy people to support me, along with my mother," he said, grinning at the officers. Callie laughed.

"Well, now you just have us again, and you work with us, now!" she said. "I'll bring you up to speed on everything while Billy speaks with Darren. Dale, can you bring Charlie into the breakroom and get him a drink while Billy and Darren talk?"

"Wait," interrupted Charlie. "I think I should go with him."

"It's okay," Dale whispered in his ear. "Billy's in good hands."

"I don't know," Charlie said, looking at Billy with uncertainty.

"I'll be okay, Charlie. Don't worry about me, okay? I'll just be a little bit."

Charlie nodded before following Dale to the breakroom upstairs.

"Darren, I'll leave you to it," Callie said. "Feel free to use my office while I talk to Alex. Come and get me when you're done."

"Sure thing, Callie," replied Darren. "Billy, shall we?"

"Yeah, let's do it," said Billy, following Darren. Darren led him through the squadroom, where some of the other officers glanced at him as they walked by. They entered Callie's office, and Darren closed the door behind them.

"Please, sit," Darren said, motioning to the pair of chairs in front of the desk. Billy sat down while Darren took his spot in front of him, behind the desk.

"How are you feeling?" Darren asked.

"Okay, for the most part," replied Billy. "I'm a little nervous about the trial, but other than that, I'm pretty much fine."

Darren nodded. "Do you think you've been trying to block anything out at all?"

"No," said Billy, shaking his head. "I think about what happened to me almost every day. I've had some flashbacks to what happened that day I was attacked, but it hasn't been nearly as bad as it was before I went to the hospital."

"That's good," Darren said. "The worst thing you could do is try to block out what happened to you. I almost learned that the hard way."

"What do you mean?"

"Before I started doing this nearly 15 years ago, I had a pretty rough life. I had seven different people try to kill me over a period of several years when I was younger."

"What?" asked Billy, clearly startled by this revelation.

"Yeah, it started with an ex-girlfriend losing her mind and her brother and her coming after me while I was in college. After that, it was a group of people who had been inspired to follow their footsteps after they were imprisoned. When they died, I thought it was all over. I was finishing my self-help book when they were killed in prison, my ex and her brother. The others had been locked away in mental facilities, so I figured it was all over."

"What happened?"

"Well, I was on the final stop of my book tour in Wichita, Kansas, where I lived, and another spree broke out. I may have been a target of that killer, but the main target was my best friend, Brendan Hopkins. The killer only came after me because he wanted to finish what the others had failed to do. After he hoped to kill me, he hoped to get revenge on his and Brendan's parents, because it turned out that they were brothers, by killing Brendan. He failed after I managed to stop him, along with Brendan's wife, but not before Brendan was nearly killed trying to save me."

"How did you cope with it?"

"For a while, I didn't," Darren said, sighing. "I tried to forget that one detail about what had happened, while retaining everything else."

"That must have been hard."

"Tell me about it. Any time I saw Brendan, I was somewhat reminded of it, but I blocked it out every time it happened."

"So what happened?"

"About a year after it happened, I learned to stop blaming myself for what happened to Brendan. After his father went crazy and nearly tried to kill him because he blamed his father abandoning his brother for the murders, I realized that I had no control of the situation. Brendan just happened to be in the room when I was attacked, and he was willing to risk his life to save mine. I understood that, finally, and I was able to move on with my life. Those events are what inspired me to become a crisis counselor in the first place. I wanted to help people who had gone through similar things, and let them know that they are not alone."

Billy nodded in understanding. "That's all I want as I go through this trial."

"And that's my counsel to you, Billy," Darren said, nodding. "Keep your friends close with you, always, but especially during the trial. Callie told me that you have a few other friends beside Charlie, and I want you to keep them close for as long as you can, Billy. Your friends will be the ones who will carry you through this trial, not my colleagues. We can help you in the legal sense, and I can only do so much. But your friends will help you in ways you couldn't possibly imagine, so keep them close, okay?"

"I will," Billy replied, nodding vigorously. "I don't want to lose any of them."

Darren smiled. "You won't. I have a good feeling about Charlie, so I'm sure your other friends will be as good for you. If you ever need anything, though, during the trial, feel free to give me a call."

"Thank you, Darren," Billy said, standing up and turning to leave. He stopped when he reached the door, and turned back around to face Darren, who was approaching the door.

"Did your friends help you cope?" he asked.

Once again, Darren smiled. "Oh yes," he said. "Brendan and his wife, Gale, are my best friends in the world, besides my wife, Nancy. They are the siblings I never had, and I wouldn't have that any other way."

They exited the office and met up with Charlie and Dale.

"Everything okay?" asked Charlie.

"Yeah, buddy, I'm okay," Billy replied, smiling. "I just wanna go hang with you, Sam and Patrick now."

"Good idea," said Darren, smiling. "I'll see you soon, Billy, and remember, call if you need anything."

Dale led them out of the squadroom, and to the entrance of the precinct, where they hailed a cab to meet Sam and Patrick at King's. As they drove to the restaurant, Billy knew that spending time with his new friends would be just the kind of therapy he needed before the trial against Jack Calvert started.


End file.
